The oft-delayed purse bid for Tyson Fury’s WBC-ordered mandatory heavyweight defense against Dillian Whyte has been postponed once again. The WBC is calling this a “final extension,” and the new deadline is this Friday, January 28th.
Originally reported by ESPN’s Mike Coppinger and announced shortly thereafter by the WBC, the move marks at least the third or fourth postponement, depending on how you’re counting, since the first scheduled date of January 11th.
Rumors have been swirling of step aside deals for Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte that would allow an immediate undisputed heavyweight championship showdown between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua issued a statement earlier this week downplaying those rumors, but only said he hadn’t told anyone that he’d agreed to surrender his mandatory rematch with Usyk. Joshua very pointedly did not outright deny the possibility.
Fury has been very vocal this week on social media about his desire to bring the extended negotiations to a conclusion and confirm a fight with pretty much anyone in the mix at the top of the heavyweight division. He posted a video yesterday calling out the Joshua-Usyk-Whyte trio as “cowards,” “bum dossers,” and “wet lettuces.”
Fury followed that up today with another video doubling down on the “cowards” allegations, and throwing in a new allegation of “bullshit talkers” into the conversation.
The hope over the weekend was that we’d get a final determination on the future of the heavyweight belts by today. That didn’t happen, so now a thirsty sport turns eyes to Friday instead.
Fury seems ready to fight whoever, whenever, and I’m with him. Any of these four guys fighting each other in any combination is fine with me. Hopefully, we’re two days away from solidifying the heavyweight schedule for at least the next few months.